The Biggest Branding Myth No One Talks About → On The Cult of Authenticity
In Part 1 of this series, “The Missing Piece In Raising Human-Centered Brands,” we unpacked how weak Ego, not hubris, plays a significant role in the rise of both toxic corporate branding and unsustainable personal brands. And although personal brands are not our bread and butter, we promised to deep dive into "anti-cult personal branding" for Founders who feel compelled to loop a personal brand into their larger brand strategy. So here we go…
“Be vulnerable with your audience."
"Do what scares you."
"Bring your whole self."
"Build in public."
This is the soundtrack of The Cult Of Authenticity, pouring from the mouths of gurus and influencers who are primed to profit from your pain.
At Humaniz, we don't buy into the big push toward "authentic" personal brands. Not because we are against being real. Realness is awesome. The world needs more realness, bring on the realness, PLEASE!
But if we're being real, then we have to talk about:
How easy it is for healthy authenticity to be perverted by the pressures of capitalism and morph into self-imposed exploitation of the Self.
How "authenticity" becomes the justification for inappropriate and bad behavior that harms others or undermines personal and professional goals.
How people with influence worm their way into the hearts and minds of others and convince them that vulnerability is the only way to grow.
On Authenticity
Authentic (adj.): True to one's own personality, spirit, or character
Your inner world isn't a monolith; it's a constellation.
You contain conflicting desires, contradictory values, old wounds, future visions, and adaptive parts that all have their own timing, tone, and agenda.
Sometimes the most honest expression of your Self is restraint.
Sometimes it's contradiction.
Sometimes it's confusion.
Sometimes it's silence.
And the truth no brand coach selling "authentic brands" wants you to realize: you are inherently
authentic.
Even when you're shaping, editing, or masking, those choices come from the real you.
Even when you are lying, or code switching, or merging, or over-editing yourself, that is who you authentically feel you need to be in that moment.
Being inauthentic as a person is an illusion.
But the cult of authenticity has conflated authenticity with vulnerability, and vulnerability with oversharing.
You can't scroll one thumb swipe without tripping over the sentiment that sharing of yourself is the only way to grow, or that reservations are proof you're insecure or not ready.
We've flattened meaning, and now people think:
Authenticity = Vulnerability = Exposure = Trust
Why It’s Dangerous
Time for more operational definitions:
Vulnerability (noun): the quality or state of being exposed to the possibility of being attacked or harmed, either physically or emotionally
Oversharing (verb): the disclosure of an inappropriate amount of detail about one's personal life
If you are operating under the false belief that authenticity must be created, performed, allowed, invited, etc., you start looking for ways to "be more yourself" - and you land on the doorstep of the oh-so-popular vulnerability flex.
Again, I am not anti-vulnerability. I am, in fact, pro-vulnerability.
But as the very wise queen of vulnerability, Brené Brown, explains:
"Vulnerability is sharing with people who have earned the right to hear our stories."
Key word: earned.
You might feel vulnerable pitching a massive contract, owning a mistake, or standing behind an unpopular decision. That's real. That's human. That's appropriate.
But you reveal a personal trauma in a LinkedIn post not because you've processed it or because it adds value, but because you're hoping it drives impressions, engagement, etc.?
That's oversharing.
In the moment, oversharing is the exploitation of the Self.
As a pattern, it ought to be considered a form of self-harm. You keep exposing more and more of yourself, thinking that's what it takes to be seen.
To grow.
To be taken seriously.
But when that exposure doesn't deliver the return you hoped for, the logic turns on you:
"I must be the wrong kind of authentic."
That's a psychological trap. And it's a brutal one.
At Humaniz, we are in the business of deploying strategies that celebrate humanity, but just for kicks, let's entertain the idea that we’re naive, that we live in a dog-eat-dog world, and you need to claw your way to the top.
Then is this "Cult Of Authenticity" and it’s "an authentic personal brand" the way up?
Still no.
Why It's Bad Advice
It’s bad strategy, because the aim of a brand, personal or company, is not expression—it's impression.
A great brand sets, meets, and exceeds expectations.
And as lovely as you are, not every part of you has a place in your brand, because not every part of you matters to your ideal audience.
"Bring your whole self to work" is about you, not the audience.
The job of a good personal brand is to consistently and coherently deliver the parts of you that add the most value to your ideal audience and to be in integrity with your values as you do it.
You don't need to overshare with potential clients and referral partners to win their trust, any more than your brand needs you to lead with self-righteousness or express every impulse to avoid the burden of self-regulation.
Branding is about holding boundaries, not obliterating them.
The words that should own your inner world if you want to raise a brand, personal or otherwise, are not authenticity and vulnerability. They are:
purpose, commitment, value, boundaries. purpose, commitment, value, boundaries. purpose, commitment, value, boundaries.
But watch out - because when you win at this and your brand takes off, you will be up against the hard truth that personal brands are not scalable.
The second you try to delegate under the umbrella of a personal brand, you will face an authenticity breach - and pretending you don't is an integrity breach.
And this is why we never advise founders to build a personal brand (exclusively) as a way to grow their business.
Conclusion
If you've started to suspect that "just be authentic" isn't a real strategy, you're not wrong you awake, because it’s not.
In Part 1 we broke down how we got here, and now in Part 2, you've seen how authenticity can become a performance trap.
In Part 3, we'll look at how to raise a human-centered brand that can take on a life of its own and scale beyond its founder.
If you want that in your inbox, subscribe below.
And if you already know you need something more strategic than "just be yourself," engage Brand IdQ™️ to start humanizing your brand, without self-exploitation.
Who We Are
"We don’t create brands, because we truly believe that every business already has a brand. Rather, our role is to help founders and their teams embody the brand fully, express it with more clarity, and expand its influence and impact with more confidence."
~ Charlie Birch, Author of On Raising Brands + Founder and Creative Director @ Humaniz Collective
Bringing a brand to market is just the beginning of your brand’s development and life story.
And that’s where we come in!
We’re creative, marketing and operational experts working together to ensure brands come to life from the inside out.
We support brands throughout their lifecycle across three phases of service:
Brand Strategy
Brand Design
Brand Stewardship
If you’re looking for a brand partner to walk beside you, ensuring your brand grows up healthy and strong, makes good life choices, and attracts the right people into its orbit, Humaniz Collective is the obvious choice.
Engage with Brand IdQ - our complimentary brand strategy generator - and let us prove our worth.
